Leib

See also: leib

German

Etymology

From Middle High German līp, from Old High German līb, from Proto-West Germanic *līb, from Proto-Germanic *lībą (“life, body”), from *lībaną (“to remain, stay, be left”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to stick, glue”). Cognate with German Low German Liev (“body”), Dutch lijf (“body”), English life, Swedish liv (“life, waist”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laɪ̯p/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯p
• Homophone: Laib

Noun

Leib m (strong, genitive Leibes or Leibs, plural Leiber, diminutive Leibchen n)

1. (dated, higher register or religious) body

   Synonym: Körper

   • (Luke 22:19)

     Das ist mein Leib, der für euch hingegeben wird.

     This is my body, which is given for you.

2. by semantic narrowing more specifically
   1. trunk, torso

      Synonyms: Rumpf, Oberkörper, Torso

   2. belly, abdomen, stomach

      Synonyms: Bauch, Magen

   3. womb

      Synonyms: Mutterleib, (informal) Bauch, (medical) Gebärmutter

      • (Line from the Hail Mary)

        Gebenedeit ist die Frucht deines Leibes, Jesus.

        Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Usage notes

• Still commonly found in derivatives and in fixed expressions, such as nichts am Leib haben (“to be naked”, literally “to have nothing on one's body”), Leib und Leben (“life and limb”, literally “body and life”), Leib und Seele (“body and soul”), etc.

Declension

Declension of Leib [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Leib	die	Leiber
genitive	eines	des	Leibes, Leibs	der	Leiber
dative	einem	dem	Leib, Leibe1	den	Leibern
accusative	einen	den	Leib	die	Leiber

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• Astralleib
• fettleibig
• Leib und Leben
• Leib und Seele
• Leibesübung
• Leibgericht
• Leibwächter
• Mutterleib

 

Further reading

• “Leib” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Leib” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Leib” in Duden online
• Leib on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German lip, from Old High German lib.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laɪ̯p/

Noun

Leib m (plural Leiver)

1. belly

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary